Government Shutdown

Last month’s 16-day partial government shutdown is a fading memory for park rangers at Cane River Creole National Historical Park in Natchitoches. They’ve resumed their 90-minute walking tours in downtown Natchitoches. In all, 15 rangers at the park were furloughed during the shutdown, including Nathan Hatfield. He’s the park’s chief of interpretation. He said it didn’t take long to get the park humming again. The walking tours are being expanded during the holidays.

The government shutdown begins its second week with the parties still bitterly divided and Republicans increasingly tying the impasse to a looming deadline to avoid a default on U.S. debt in 10 days. Former U.S Congressman Jim McCrery was serving in the House during the last government shutdown. The Shreveport native now is on the steering committee for the Campaign to Fix the Debt. That’s a Washington-based nonpartisan organization to address the nation’s fiscal policies. McCrery believes that if the debt ceiling isn’t raised it will wreak economic havoc across the globe.